Gun for projecting finely divided noxious powder



INVENTOR J. WILLIAMS, JR

Filed March 8, 1934 GUN FOR PROJECTING FINELY DIVIDED NOXIOUS POWDER March 12, 1935.

mu m n vmw 7 NH which has reactions Patented Mar. 12,1935

re-re Joseph Williams, in,

Pittsliriigh} Pad, assignor" to Chemical ProtectiveArms Corporation, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 8, 1934, Serial No. 714,612 mm. (01. 42-2) bining the cartridge holder and breech block,

Further objects are into one. integral member; the. provision of improved means for releasably holding the thumb piece or slide in retracted position, and for by-passing the air from one side of thefiring plungerto the other, so that the resistance'to its'movement is reduced, permitting "the use of a less powerful operating spring than would otherwisebe required. Certainembodiments of theinvention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

ing the plunger in firing position. Figs. 4 and 5. are sections on the dineQIV-IV and V-V respectively of 1 Fig. 1. Fig.6 is. a planview of the grip or handlewitn'the thumb piece refication. 1 v

y moved. AndFig. 'lisa section showing a modi- Referring to" the drawing,"1 is a cartridge shell or container which acts as the barrel of thegun the crimping at the end of the and is provided at its rear end with a percussion cap 2. The shell carries at its rear end a body of gun powder 3, and forward of the wadior disc .4, the bodyof noxious powder 5 which is to be.

projected from the gun when the cartridge is fired, suchpowder beingretained at the front end of the shell by the wad 6 held in place by shelL- The powder 5 is preferably diphenylaminechlorarsine,

but various other noxious, irritating powders may be used, such as chloroacetophenone, ve-

ratrine, Spanish pepper or the like. 7

The shell 1 fits at its rear end into a socket member 7 with which it has the threaded en-1 gagement, as shown, .so that the shell may be quickly removed and replaced. Integral with the socketis a breech block 8 which is threaded and has screwed thereto the hollow, grip or of a much lighter operating plunger thanwould otherwise be the case.

the cartridge shell 1 of Fig. 1.

thereof by means of the plates 16 (Fig.6). 0

When'the thumb piece is moved to the right to the positioniof Fig. 1, it moves the plungerto retracted or cocked position, compressing the spring 12. The plunger is locked in this position by means of the ball 17 mounted in a slot in the plunger, and pushed outto locking posi-v tion by the spring 18. In such position, the ball lies in the perforation 19 (Fig. 6) through the wall of the grip and locks the plunger against, forward movement. The ball also fits into a refrom the position of Fig 1.

To releasethe plunger, the thumb piece is moved to the left to the position of Fig. 2, where release is secured by the action of the ball 21, secured in a socket on the under side of the thumb piece. The ball turns loosely in its socket, but is held therein by the edges of the socket which are peenedin 'suificiently to prevent the ball from dropping out whenthe thumb piece is removed from the grip. When the ball 21 pushes the locking ball 17 down, as indicated in Fig. 2, the plungeris snappedforward to the position of. Fig. 3, firing the cap 2', and causing the discharge of the gun. To cock the device again, the thumb piece is moved to the right from the position of Fig. 3 to the position of Fig. 1.. i

In order to permit the plunger to reciprocate freely inthe grip with aminimum of airresistance, by-pass means are provided from one side of the plunger to the other in the form of the grooves 22 (Figs. 4 and 5). This spring for the Fig. 7 illustrates a modification in which the socket member 7 carries a barrel 23 in place of usual paper cartridge shell 24 is used in the barrel, such shell carrying charges of gun powder and noxious powder arranged in the same manner as shownin Fig. 1. The shell 1 of the Fig. 1 construction is preferably of some relaand the other 5 V 2 cess 20 on the under side of the thumb piece, so that the thumb piece is locked yieldingly v against movement to the left Figure" 1* is a longitudinal "section through the gun 'withthe, firing plunger in cooked or retracted position. Fig. 2 is a partialsection. showing the position of the *thumb piece when pushedforward far enough to cause the release of the plunger. Fig.8 is a partial section showpermits the use In this case, the

tively light metal, such as aluminum, and such shell may be, if desired, subject to recharging and reuse.

What I claim is: I In combination in a noxious powder gun, a socket member, a discharge barrel secured releasably in the member, a hollow handle secured to the other end of the socket member and having a slot in its side, a breech block at the rear end of the barrel, firing mechanism in the handle comprising a plunger, a spring for moving the plunger forward, a pin carried by the plunger and extending through said slot, a thumb slide mounted over the slot and having a slot on its lower sideinto which the end of the pin fits slidably, a spring pressed locking member working in the plunger transversely thereof, a locking recess extending through the wall of the handle for receiving the locking member and holding the plunger in retracted position when the slide and plunger are moved back to firing position, placing said first mentioned spring under compression, a locking recess on the inner face of the slide adapted to be engaged-by the locking member when such member is in looking position, and a release element movable with the slide, and adapted to engage and release the .lcckingmember when the slide is'moved forward.

JOSEPH WILLIAMS, JR. 

